REPORT TO THE THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE STATE OF HAWAII REGULAR SESSION OF 2021 HAWAII CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION COMMISSION Prepared by Department of Land and Natural Resources State of Hawaii In response to Section 225P-3(k), Hawaii Revised Statutes December 2020 1 Hawaii Climate Change Annual Report 2020 Contents 1. Commission members and staff 2. Mission and priority statements 3. 2020 Highlights: Co-Chairs’ message 4. Funds sought and awarded 5. Support and coordination for key offices to address resilience in vulnerable communities 6. Development of policy tools for state and county departments 7. Operationalizing mitigation and adaptation: Demonstration projects and guidance 8. Engagement at international, national, sub-national, and state levels 9. Information to Hawaii’s communities 2 1. Hawai‘i Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission Members and Staff COMMISSION CO-CHAIRS SUZANNE CASE - Chairperson of the Department of Land and Natural Resources MARY ALICE EVANS - Director of the Office of Planning COMMISSION MEMBERS MIKE MCCARTNEY - Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development, & Tourism RICHARD FRIED - Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Hawai`i Tourism Authority PHYLLIS SHIMABUKURO-GEISER - Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture SYLVIA HUSSEY - Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs WILLIAM AILĀ, JR - Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission JADE BUTAY - Director of the Department of Transportation ELIZABETH CHAR - Director of the Department of Health CATHERINE PAYNE - Chairperson of the Board of Education KATHY K SOKUGAWA - Director of the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Planning & Permitting MICHELE CHOUTEAU MCLEAN - Director of the County of Maui, Department of Planning MICHAEL YEE - Director of the County of Hawai`i, Department of Planning KA`ĀINA S. HULL - Director of the County of Kaua`i, Department of Planning MIKE GABBARD - Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture & Environment KAIALI`I KAHELE - Chair of the Senate Committee on Water & Land NICOLE E. LOWEN - Chair of the House Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection RYAN I. YAMANE - Chair of the House Committee on Water, Land & Hawaiian Affairs MAJOR GENERAL KENNETH S. HARA - The Adjutant General JUSTINE NIHIPLAI - Manager of the coastal zone management program COMMISSION STAFF ANUKRITI HITTLE - Coordinator Website: Climate.hawaii.gov Facebook: @Hi Climate Instagram: @HI_Climate 3 2. Mission and priority statements Mission Statement. Hawaii’s Climate Commission recognizes the urgency of climate threats and the need to act quickly. It promotes ambitious, climate-neutral, culturally responsive strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation in a manner that is clean, equitable and resilient. Priority Statement: Mitigation1 The Commission recognizes that ground transportation contributes significantly to Hawai‘i’s share of greenhouse gas emissions. It supports a price on carbon, and mechanisms to reduce overall vehicle miles traveled, as well as converting all remaining vehicle-based ground transportation to renewable, zero-emission fuels and technologies. Priority Statement: Adaptation2 The Commission recognizes the serious impacts of sea level rise on Hawai'i. It supports legislation to address development along beaches, as well as funding programs that assist in planning and implementation; urges the incorporation of the sea level rise exposure area into counties' general and development plans; and recommends that agencies identify and prioritize their assets that lie within this area. 1 http://climate.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NR-Climate-Commission-Recommends-Urgent-Action-to- Combat-Emissions-N ov.-28-2018.pdfOn adaptation: 2 http://climate.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NR-State-Cl imate-Commission-Adopts- Recommendations-MIssion-Statement -Sept.-5-2018.pdf 4 3. 2020 Highlights: Co-Chairs’ Message Aloha kākou, The first year of the Climate Decade began with Hawai‘i’s second statewide Climate Conference, expanded to two days, with the keynote address by New York Times bestselling author David Wallace-Wells setting the tone with his message that the climate crisis has intensified. At the conference, Governor Ige said succinctly, “What we used to call climate change is more accurately described as a climate crisis.” Two months later, the State of Hawai‘i began to document its first COVID-19 cases. The pandemic crisis highlighted how vulnerable Hawai‘i is to larger unpredictable global forces—and why it is imperative to move quickly towards a clean, equitable, and resilient Hawai‘i. Clearly, one major lesson of this pandemic is that Hawai‘i cannot afford to rely on global tourism as its main economic driving force; Hawai‘i needs to diversify its economy. There are ample opportunities to do just that by incorporating sustainable principles such as local agriculture and energy production, conservation, and electrification of transportation into its future planning. By incorporating the guiding principles of the Commission into COVID-19 recovery efforts, we can address present day health, and economic and climate change impacts to prepare for the future. Through its Climate Ready Hawai‘i Initiative, the State’s Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission’s work attempts to exemplify such preparation. While many of us have been on the frontlines dealing with COVID-19 issues, recognizing the inextricable links between climate, recovery, health, and economy, we have strengthened our climate response. Despite pandemic interruptions to meetings and work, we have put recovery and resilience at the center of our efforts and will continue to do so for the Climate Decade. This year, we have: • Sought and been awarded grant funds for catalytic projects that reinforce the intertwined nature of climate change resilience and economic recovery; • Assembled a Climate Ready Corps to support key departments in taking climate action by creating employment and mentoring opportunities for a six-member VISTA AmeriCorps cohort of young people to work on climate “readiness” and equity; • Initiated development of critical climate change policy tools for departments to incorporate into their daily operations; • Developed guidance for counties and communities to use in sea level rise adaptation; • Strengthened and expanded international, regional, national, state, and local partnerships to motivate and move forward on climate action; and • Compiled, analyzed and disseminated climate change information to the local, national and global communities. 5 The Commission and its staff are honored and proud to support Hawai‘i’s public, legislative and executive branches in service of Act 32. With aloha, Suzanne D. Case Co-Chair, Hawai‘i Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission Chair, Department of Land and Natural Resources Mary Alice Evans Co-Chair, Hawai‘i Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission Director, Office of Planning, Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism 6 4. Funds sought and awarded: External grants augment program budget totaling almost $1million. The Commission quadrupled its overall program budget, from its General Fund allocation of $205,000 to a total of $995,595. The Commission’s staff sought and was awarded a total of $790,595 from federal sources and foundation grants outside of Hawai‘i, approximately half of which was in-kind. 7 5. Support and coordination for key offices to address resilience in vulnerable communities. As climate change exacerbates weather patterns and extreme weather events, it is important to equip those who do not have the resources to recover and thrive as a result of even relatively "minor" disasters and impacts, particularly vulnerable low-income communities and those who are considered homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless. At present, no coordinated statewide effort exists to identify and address the impacts of climate change and related policies on vulnerable populations and communities. The Commission is eager to begin addressing this issue through its VISTA Climate Ready Corps. Through a grant from the Corporation of National and Community Service (CNCS), six AmeriCorps VISTA members will join four key state offices for a period of three years to address climate readiness and equity issues statewide that will help our most vulnerable communities thrive and be resilient in the face of climate change induced events and impacts. The four offices are: the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission (Commission) based at the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), the Hawai‘i State Energy Office (HSEO), the Hawai‘i Office of Planning (OP), and the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH). The program will integrate the climate change work of these four offices through data collection, outreach, education, and information dissemination. 8 6. Development of policy tools for state and county departments. Following recommendations from the 2019 statewide conference that the State “consider adopting a community resilience building planning process to help Hawai‘i’s communities, counties and institutions of any scale to identify their top priorities based on climate change hazards cross-referenced to strengths and vulnerabilities relative to infrastructure, social and environmental characteristics,” the Commission approved the development of a Climate Ready Hawai‘i Initiative. Recognizing that a mauka-to-makai problem needs an ahupua‘a solution, a Climate